This is my most recent pencil drawing commission. A group of friends are getting this for another friend. That’s all I’m allowed to say, not knowing the the scope of readership of this blog or degree of silence required for this gift.
This is the scanned, cleaned up version using Photoshop Junior, which is actually Photoshop Elements. It is converted to grayscale mode and anything that is paper color on the drawing gets “erased” so it looks almost as clean here as it does in person.
Saw/Saw, a mini mural of Sawtooth Peak on a round saw blade, was almost finished.
I fixed the camera setting, stood on the ladder to photograph it, and then realized that the trees on the bottom were crooked. Of course I only noticed this after putting the photo in an email to the customers, but immediately after sending it, I straightened them up. This is tricky business on a circle – how do I know vertical is vertical without straight edges of the canvas or wall to guide me?
That’s why I get paid the Big Bucks. (Fall down laughing.)
Welcome back! I knew you would be interested to know how Saw/Saw turned out. Not sure if this qualifies as a real mural or not; I think it might just be an Odd Job.
Finally, I figured out what was wonky with my camera. I had been experimenting with the settings, still not quite understanding what they all meant. When I changed “Poster Effect” to “Program” (who chooses these words??), It photographed more accurately.
But now the computer is not behaving properly, and when I export the photo of the finished Saw/Saw, it says it goes somewhere, and then it isn’t there.
My Mac is lying to me and cheating you out of seeing the finished saw blade!
Boy am I mad.
Maybe it will fix itself and work tomorrow. Besides, a job is never finished until these 2 things happen: A. The customer is happy and B. I have signed it.
What is “Saw/Saw”?
Glad you asked!
I have been commissioned to paint Sawtooth on a saw blade. Hence, saw/saw.
The blade is about 4′ in diameter and is heavy metal. I lifted it onto my round table and then couldn’t figure out whether or not I should lean on the teeth to get the balance off myself and onto the table. The weight made the decision for me – it was too heavy to hold while I decided whether or not the teeth would hurt me.
And that’s all you get to see today. Tomorrow is Friday, and Fridays are for Mineral King.
See you on Monday? I’ll show you . . . the rest of the story! (Anyone else around here grow up listening to Paul Harvey?)
This summer is shaping up to be full of wild animals for this California artist.
First, we were hiking in Mineral King and saw this:
While on that hike I thought of doing these oil paintings:
They are each 4×4″, and from left to right are a mule deer buck, golden mantle squirrel, yellow-bellied marmot, and a black bear. (They are called that even when they are brown or cinnamon or blond.)
After that, I painted this bear for the Sierra Lodge in Three Rivers:
After which, they asked me to refresh this bear:
So that he would look like this:
With all that wildlife around, particularly the ferocious bear, you might be a bit concerned about unfriendly encounters or a bit of danger. There was one small incident that ended up looking like this:
I love teal. It looks particularly striking with brown.
P.S. The bear on the flag of this California artist’s state is a grizzly, not a black bear. I’m happy to report we don’t have them in California any more. This is not an environmentally correct view, but I am more concerned with personal safety than being correct. This might make me a pig. See? animal summer!
More flowers needed, and then figure out how to end the bottom river scene. After that, the refining stage where the tiniest changes have a large impact. (Did I mention that I love to draw??)